


Keep You Safe

by DaronwyK



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 11:24:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9654674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaronwyK/pseuds/DaronwyK
Summary: Daryl meets Beth at the Beginning, and everything changes.





	1. Baby-Face Greene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl goes hunting and finds more than rabbits in the woods.

_**~~~B &D~~~** _

 

Daryl Dixon had never been comfortable around groups of people. His area of tolerance usually extended to include his brother...most of the time, but that was basically it. Now with the end of the damn world...he was having to try and make nice with soccer moms and nice wholesome types. He knew Merle wanted to rip them all off once they let their guards down but it didn't sit right with him, stealing from women and kids. Supplies had been running low in record time with so many mouths to feed and only that Asian kid, Glenn, making runs into the city for whatever he could scavenge. So Daryl did what he was good at, he went hunting. It let him provide for the group in a way no one else seemed able to, and kept him away from people. Win win so far as he was concerned.

 

Today he'd managed to find a rabbit, but not a whole lot else. He heard something near the road and moved to investigate. It was the distinctive tone of a group of Walkers with something in their sights. He'd started picking up their sounds now, getting a feel for them. He approached carefully and saw them crowding around a mini-van. On the roof was a blonde girl, using a stick to try and kill the monsters intent on eating her. There was a blood slick near a pack that must have been a person until pretty recently. He hesitated, considering just keeping going but couldn't do it. He started taking them out with his crossbow, easily dispatching the five Walkers.

 

"You alright?" He asked as he came out of the trees, grabbing his bolts as he approached.

 

"I think so." The girl said, blue eyes wide as he approached...clearly not too sure about him, despite the rescue. It made him instantly think better of her.

 

"Come on down...it's clear now." He said and offered her a hand.

 

The girl hesitated a moment and then nodded, taking his hand sliding down the windsheild and onto the hood before hoping down. "Thank you." She said, bringing her eyes up to meet his.

 

"You alone?" Daryl asked her and immediately regretted it, seeing the tears well up in her eyes.

 

"I am now." She managed to say, eyes going to the bloody pavement.

 

"I'm sorry." Daryl said, uncomfortable with the tears. "What's your name?"

 

"Beth....Beth Greene." She said, wiping the tears away.

 

"'m Daryl. How long were you up there?" He asked her. It usually took a few days for the Walkers to finish eating someone.

 

"Couple days...I'd kill a couple and then there were always more." She said quietly. "Jimmy got me up on the van...he was almost up too when they grabbed him." She swallowed.

 

"Here, you should drink a bit." He got his bottle of water out of his pack. "I'm with a group, so far they seem like decent folks, families and stuff, you could come back with me. You shouldn't be out here alone." He said.

 

Beth clearly looked conflicted.

 

"I'll take care of you." Daryl said. "Make sure no one hurts you." He said, knowing that a girl like that would end up dead, or likely wishing she was. He watched as she bit her bottom lip and then raised her eyes to meet his, was if trying to see right into him. He didn't know why he cared...but he did.

 

"Ok." She agreed.

 

"I'm just finishing a hunting trip, but we can cut it short and head back." He said, seeing how tired and pale she was. It had likely been a while since she'd had a good meal. "Do you have any other weapons?" he asked her.

 

Beth shook her head. "I had a knife but I lost it when we were running from the biters."

 

Daryl pulled his bowie knife out and offered it to her. "You can borrow it until we get back to camp. Just stay close and try not to make too much noise." He said and headed back towards the woods.

 

"Wait." Beth said and headed over to the bloody pack on the road. She crouched and opened it gingerly, transfering some bottled water, dried jerky and a few small objects into her shoulder bag. She returned to Daryl and at his nodd they headed into the woods. She stayed quiet behind him, trying to convince herself that this wasn't the stupidest thing she'd ever done. He *HAD* saved her life, and he wasn't looking at her the way that those men had been back in Atlanta. Maybe she'd be ok.

 

Daryl was surprised that she wasn't all that noisy in the woods, he'd had her pegged as a city girl. "We'll have to camp out tonight, too far to make it in before dark." He said and shifted their course towards an abandoned RV he'd spotted a few days ago.

 

"Do you go out a lot?" She asked him.

 

"Yeah...no one else is worth shit at hunting." He snorted a bit.

 

Beth smiled a bit as they spotted the RV. "Good place to stop for the night?" She asked him.

 

"Yeah, as good a place as any." Daryl said and did a check of the RV and then once he was sure it was safe gestured for her to come in. "I've used it a few times." It had gone off the road, had a busted axel but it was pretty new and once the door was barricaded it was secure enough. "I'm going to clean this real quick and we'll see if there's enough propane to cook it up." He said and headed outside.

 

Beth sat down, resting her head on her bag while she waited. In a few minutes she was out cold.

 

Daryl came back in and saw her sleeping and smiled a bit. He slipped the board into the notches he'd made to secure the door and then quietly went to start cooking the rabbit. Merle was going to be an ass about the girl, he could count on that, but he'd keep him from harassing her too much. He'd need to warn her about him though. Then there was what to tell the others, he didn't think the group would think much of a girl like that staying with him. He knew it would look bad but he didn't really know those people yet and he didn't trust them to keep her alive if shit went sideways. Didn't even know WHY it mattered to him, not like he knew her at all...but it did matter.

 

He heard a sound and saw her sit up, yawning and stretching a little. "Hey there sleepy head." he said and started dishing up the rabbit. It wasn't nothin' fancy but it was hot and there'd been some salt, pepper, and sage in the cupboards. He brought it over and set a plate in front of her.

 

"Smells good." She smiled a little and tried a piece, pleasure spreading across her feature. "Oh my god...I haven't had anything this good in a long time."

 

Daryl couldn't help but smile. "Nothin' special...just rabbit." He chuckled and tucked into his. "So, how old are you anyway?"

 

"Just turned 19, was in Atlanta celebrating with some friends when the army rolled in." She said softly. "We tried getting out of the city but got caught in the roadblocks."

 

Daryl looked surprised, he'd been thinking she was like 16 or something. "You don' look it." He said.

 

"I know...trust me, I've been gettin' teased about it for years. Baby-face Greene." She rolled her eyes a bit.

 

"Were you with a group in the city?" He asked.

 

She looked down at her food. "A bunch of us that escaped the roadblocks made it to a building together. It was ok at first but things started getting weird. A few people went missing on runs, and three of the men started acting really odd. They were watching me and the other girls, and one night Jimmy and I slipped away. I just knew something was going to happen and we didn't want to stick around and see what." She looked at him.

 

Daryl nodded, understanding all too well what had likely been going on. "Probably good you got out when you did. Not everyone has good intentions, especially not now." He said, a little uncomfortable knowing that Merle was one of those.

 

"I'm starting to see that." She said. "But everyone can't be bad...I mean, you didn't have to stop and help me. The biters hadn't seen you, you could have kept going."

 

"Naw...wasn't right leaving you like that." He said instantly. "Not when I could help."

 

She gave him a small smile. "Well...I owe you."

 

"Careful saying stuff like that now...people will hold you to it. You don' owe me nothing." He said seriously. "I'll take first watch, you can crash back on the bed there."

 

Beth nodded and once she was done eating she went and laid down, not realizing just how exhausted she was until she laid down on the soft mattress. When she thought about Jimmy she knew she *should* be sad but right now, she felt nothing. There was this gaping hole in the middle of her and she didn't understand why it didn't hurt. She'd cried and screamed when they'd dragged him away from her, but now there were no tears. Her recriminations about Jimmy were cut short as she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

 

Daryl sat out in the living area of the trailer, able to see her through the open door. Poor thing was exhausted. He knew Andrea and Lorie were the ones most likely to give him shit about the girl staying with him but he honestly didn't care. He knew he could protect her, help her learn to survive...the rest of them seemed to be having a hard enough time just surviving themselves. Couldn't hunt or track worth shit, made more noise in the woods than a herd of Walkers. No, she was his responsibility now. She didn't look at him like he was trash, not like everyone else. Dale was the only one who ever gave him any respect, the rest of them would eat what he brought back while looking at him like he was something they scraped off their shoe. Merle didn't care, but Daryl always had. He hated feeling worthless.

 

He ended up staying awake all night, letting the girl sleep. If she'd been on top of that van for days she'd likely not have gotten the chance to sleep worth shit. Once the sky started to lighten he got up and went back, touching her leg. "Hey kid, rise and shine." he said.

 

Beth blinked sleepily and sat up. "mmm?"

 

"Time to get moving." He said.

 

Beth yawned a little and nodded. "M'kay." She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and got up, shouldering her pack and following Daryl out of the RV.

 

He took her through the woods, sticking to some deer trails. Neither one felt the need to talk much, just focusing on the woods around them and staying alert. They came out near a clearing and he helped her step over a line of soda cans strung together as a kind of alarm. She lost her balance a bit and ended up half falling into him and blushing furiously at her own clumsiness.

 

"Easy there Greene." He chuckled and helped her right herself. He headed them up into the main camp, not sure why everyone was avoiding his eyes. "Merle!" he shouted, not seeing his brother right off. There was a strange man standing with Shane and T-Dog, and he headed over towards them.

 

"Who's the girl?" Shane asked as they all met in the center of camp.

 

"Beth, found her on the road in some trouble." Daryle said. "Where's Merle?" He didn't let them deflect him.

 

"He didn't make it back." The strange man in the Sheriff's uniform said.

 

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl said, feeling sick inside. "Is my brother dead?"

 

"I'm Rick....Lorie's husband." The man said and took a breath. "We don't know if he's dead...we had to leave him behind."

 

"You left him behind?" His eyes narrowed.

 

"There was trouble, he tried to shoot T-Dog." Andrea jumped into the conversation. "Rick didn't have a choice, he cuffed him to a pipe on the roof."

 

"You left him CUFFED TO A FUCKING ROOF!" Daryl hauled off and hit Rick, hard. It was worth getting nailed by Shane. When the red cleared from his vision he was behind held down by Shane and T-Dog, Beth was being held back by Andrea and Lorie. Clearly she must have jumped in to try and help him, Shane had a split lip he didn't remember giving him.

 

Rick knelt down and met his eyes. "The key for the cuffs fell down a pipe, we had to get out so we left him on the roof. T-Dog chained the door to the roof shut so the Walkers couldn't get him. Now I'm going back, if you can calm down...you can come with me. Ok?" He was trying to keep things calm.

 

"Fine. Now let me up, and tell'em to get their hands off her." He nodded to the women holding Beth. He had someone to think about now...he couldn't take any stupid chances right now.

 

Rick nodded to everyone and they released Daryl and Beth.

 

"You ok?" Daryl went over to Beth who was glaring at everyone else. He took her one hand in his, making a sound at her knuckles. He could all ready see them bruising.

 

"I'm fine.." She said, trying to pull her hand away.

 

"You damn near broke your hand on his face." He chuckled, wishing he could remember her doing that. "Don' be doing that shit again...I can fight my own battles." He said quietly, meeting her eyes.

 

"Okay. Just didn't think it was right that they were ganging up on you." She said quietly, watching the rest of them warily.

 

"Ain't the first time." He shrugged. "I have to go after Merle, but you should stay here...rest up." He said quietly. "If anything happens, that's my truck." he nodded to the beat up pick-up truck with the motorcycle in the bed. "If you have to, take the road out of here and head for that abandoned RV, I'll find you there." He kept his voice low. "Don't trust them to watch your back, you take care of you."

 

Beth shivered a little but nodded. "Ok. If you're going into the city, you're going to need this back." She held out his knife.

 

"Naw...you keep it. You might need it." He said and then pointed to a tent on the edge, near his truck. "That's mine and Merle's, there's some food and stuff inside...help yourself." He moved back and ran a hand through his hair. "We going or what?" He said to 'Rick' and headed towards the box truck.

 

Beth watched the men argue back and forth for a bit and then they headed off. She watched them go, feeling suddenly very alone when an older man came over.

 

"Well...you certainly didn't meet us at our best. I'm Dale." He said and offered her a hand.

 

"Beth, Beth Greene." She said politely, shaking his hand.

 

"Well, if you need anything at all...please just let me know." he gave her a smile, not sure yet who she was or what she was doing with Daryl but willing to give her time to share that.

 

"I will...thank you." She said before heading for the relative safety of Daryl's tent. He'd said these were good people, but after watching them all attack Daryl, she wasn't so sure.


	2. A Girl Like Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth feels out the group while Daryl searches for Merle in Atlanta.

_**~~~B &D~~~** _

 

Beth took some time in Daryl's tent, pulling on a clean shirt out of her bag. She lingered in there as long as she could before coming out to brave the group. She kept Daryl's knife on her though, the sheath tied to her belt. She headed over to the fire, seeing a group of women talking over some laundry. The dark-haired woman who'd hauled her off the one man was there, but she supposed she had to play nice.

 

"Hey there." The dark haired woman said.

 

"Hey." She said in return. "I'm Beth."

 

"I'm Lori, this is Carol, Amy, Andrea, and Jacqui. We're just heading down to do some laundry, if you have anything you'd like to wash...you're welcome to join us." She said, trying not to dwell on the fight.

 

"Sure, I'll grab some stuff." She said and went to get her clothes, and when she was in there she grabbed some of what looked like Daryl's as well. From the look and smell of it, it hadn't seen a washing board like ever. She put it in her shoulder bag and headed out to join the women. She saw Lori was busy hanging some stuff to dry.

 

"So, Beth...how'd Daryl find you?" Amy asked.

 

"I was stuck on top of a van, surrounded by biters. Daryl came out of nowhere and killed them all. He told me that he was with a group of good people, and asked if I'd come back with him. Seemed safer than wandering the woods alone with only a sharp stick." She shrugged.

 

"He said that about us?" Amy looked surprised.

 

"Yeah...he's not a bad person. If he was, he'd have just left me there." Beth said as they made the walk down to the water. "It's a pretty spot." She said. The light was dancing off the water.

 

"Yeah, Andrea and I are going to try fishing this afternoon. Dale said we could borrow his boat and gear." Amy smiled and they all got settled in to work on the clothes.

 

Beth settled into a rhythm, scrubbing the dirt and grim off hers and Daryl's clothes. She listened to the women talking quietly, feeling the hard glare of Carol's husband on them while they worked. She'd known men like that, her Daddy speaking strongly about cowards that needed to beat on their wives and children to feel like men. He made her skin crawl, and as he moved into their space she stood and moved back, eyes wide as Andrea got into his face.

 

"Look out!" Beth said as Ed swung at Carol, hitting Andrea. The women swarmed the big man, hauling him away from his wife and a downed Andrea. Beth saw Shane racing towards them and he tossed Ed back and nailed him hard. Beth gasped as Shane kept hitting him. Now they were having to hold Carol back to keep her from racing towards her fallen husband.

 

Shane stopped and looked down at the bloody mess of Ed Peltier. "You ever lay a hand on your wife or daughter again, I'll finish this." He promised and walked off, leaving him bleeding onto the rocks.

 

Beth felt ill and let Carol go, watching a little stunned as she and Jacqui helped Ed back up to the camp. She turned and saw Amy checking Andrea's cheek, a bruise all ready starting to come up. "Are you ok?" She asked.

 

"I'll be fine, just won't be winning any beauty pagents for a while." Andrea shook her head.

 

"Is he always like that?" Beth asked, nodding after Ed.

 

"He's getting worse...abusive son of a bitch." Andrea said and sat down. "I don't know why she stays with him...not like she has to anymore."

 

"A lot of battered women can't leave, even when they know the man could kill them." Beth said quietly, remembering the woman in her community that had kept ending up in hospital. "But maybe Ed will be so scared of Shane now that he won't hurt them anymore." She shrugged, and turned back to a pair of Daryl's jeans trying to get the mud out of them.

 

"We can hope." Amy said and finished wringing their stuff out. "We should take this stuff up and then get to fishing. Will you be ok down here?" She asked the other girl.

 

"Yeah, just going to finish this stuff. I don't think Daryl's stuff's ever seen water." She made a face.

 

"Why are you cleaning his stuff?" Andrea said, making a bit of a face.

 

"He saved my life, least I can do is clean some clothes for him." Beth said.

 

"I guess." Andrea looked a bit dubious about it but helped Amy gather up the rest of the clothes and headed back to camp.

 

Beth finished up her clothes and wandered back in her own time, frowning as she saw them hauling off one of the men in handcuffs. "What's going on?" She asked Dale.

 

"Jim just had a bit of a meltdown...Shane's taking him to cool off for a bit. I think he had sunstroke." He said quietly. "He was just...digging holes in the field."

 

Beth shook her head. "I hope he feels better." She said, heading off to hang up the clothes she had washed. There was a nice breeze blowing and the sun was hot today, it would dry the clothes out quickly. She saw Shane coming over and took a breath. "Sorry about your lip." She said, not really all that sorry but her Daddy would tan her hide for being rude.

 

"'S all right, I get it." Shane said, running a hand through his hair. "I just wanted to be sure there were no hard feelings, things got a little crazy." He said.

 

"No hard feelings." She said. "Things always this crazy around here?" Beth asked, pinning her shirt up.

 

"Not usually." He said. "Anyways, I just wanted to make sure you understood that you don't have to stay with Daryl if you don't want to, not matter what he told you. We can find you a tent of your own, or one of the families would be happy to make space for you. Not right, a kid like you staying with him." He said.

 

Beth's eyebrows raised up. "First off, I'm not a kid. Legally I am an adult, and you are not my Daddy." She turned to face Shane fully. "Second, I appreciate the concern but Daryl's been a gentleman and I'll stay with him if I want to. He saved my life and has been very clear I don't owe him a damn thing for that. If that changes, and I feel I need help...I'll let you know." She met his eyes, making sure he understood her.

 

"All right then...just offering." He held a hand up and stalked off.

 

Beth shook her head a little. There was something about him she didn't trust, especially after seeing him beat Ed's face in. Not that he hadn't deserved it, it was more the total loss of control that frightened her about Shane. She wondered if there had been fewer witnesses if he'd have actually stopped himself. She finished hanging the laundry and sat down, soaking in the sunshine. Her Daddy had raised her to judge people by their actions, not their jobs, or where they were from, or how much money they had. Actions mattered, more than words or intentions. Daryl had saved her life, shared what food he'd had, and let her sleep through the night while he kept watch. He hadn't even once looked at her in a way that made her uncomfortable. It made her angry that Shane would infer something like that about someone that struck her as a genuinely good person.

 

She heard a general cheer go up and she shook herself, looking over to see Amy and Andrea coming up with a whack of fresh fish. She smiled a bit, that would taste pretty good once they were cleaned and fried up. She went and pulled the dry clothes down off the line and folded them, taking them back to Daryl's tent. She set his clean clothes on his cot and tucked hers into her pack. Beth sat down on his cot for a little bit, laying back and just closing her eyes for a little bit. Despite her sleep last night she was still pretty tired. She dozed lightly, waking only when she heard Amy's voice calling her.

 

"Beth? Dinner's nearly ready." She called from the opening of the tent.

 

Beth stretched and got up, slipping out and smiling at the other girl. "Thanks, I didn't realize I slept that long." The sky was all ready dark. "Are the guys back yet?" She asked.

 

"No, everyone's getting a bit worried." She admitted.

 

Beth nodded. "Hopefully they'll be here soon." She said. "Fish smells great." She said.

 

"Yeah, my stomach's been growling the whole time it's been cooking." Amy laughed. "So, how old are you?" She asked Beth.

 

"Just turned 19. I'd come to Atlanta with some friends to celebrate...I wish I'd stayed back home now." She said. "You?"

 

"I'm 20. My parents are in Florida, and I don't know if I'll ever see them again." She admitted.

 

"Yeah, it's hard." Beth said quietly.

 

Amy nodded and the two girls sat down beside each other. The fish was really good, and Beth didn't mind picking the odd bone out. As the night grew darker, she started worrying over Daryl a bit more. What if he didn't come back? She knew first hand how dangerous the city was, especially after dark. Staring into the flames, Beth remembered those first hellish days. She and Jimmy had hunkered down, barricading themselves in that office building with a handful of others. They'd survived off bottled water and food out of a vending machine that first week before the men had braved the outside world to try and find food. That first trip out they'd lost two people. They got smarter about fighting the biters, and learned to avoid them but the city was a death trap. She rubbed her arms, feeling cold all of a sudden.

 

"You ok?" Amy asked.

 

"Yeah, just got lost in thought a minute." She said quietly and then her head snapped around, hearing something. "What was that?" She stood, Shane and Jim standing too. Then there was a tearing sound and a scream coming from the far end of camp. Beth's blood ran cold. She drew her knife and then she heard it, that *sound*. They were surrounded, Biters coming from behind the RV and from the woods. She gripped the handle of the knife hard, trying not to panic.

 

"Stay together!" Shane shouted, everyone trying to keep the kids in the middle as everyone with a weapon formed a ring. Anything that got close met a bullet or a blade, but the screams echoing around Beth told her that not everyone had been fast enough. They were pressing closer now, the kids were crying, screaming behind her. One of the biters came at her and she drove the blade into it's rotting head. She yanked the blade free as it fell at her feet, and she didn't have time to dwell as another came at her. They worked their way to the RV, sending the kids and the unarmed people inside and then there was gunfire...blowing away the Biters pressing around them. She saw Daryl and the others, with guns. 

 

Soon all the biters were down, and Beth leaned against the RV, taking in the carnage. She saw Daryl come over. "Did you find your brother?" She asked him quietly.

 

"Naw, not quite." He said shortly. "You hurt?" He asked, not wanting to talk about Merle.

 

"I don't think so." Beth said quietly. She felt kind of out of it.

 

"Come on, lets be sure." He nodded towards his tent, leaving the others behind. The night was quiet again, he figured they had at least a little time before anything else went to shit. He closed the flap and zipped it shut before lighting the lantern for some light. In the light Beth looked very pale, and a little out of it. He checked her over carefully, making sure there were no bites or scratches. Her skin was cold under his hands. "You're ok, you did good." He said, dipping his head to try and get her to meet his eyes.

 

"There were so many of them, they just kept coming." She whispered, feeling her throat closing up.

 

"Get it together...you're alive and they're dead for good." He said, gripping her arms and giving her a bit of a shake. "Here...put this on, it's gonna get cold tonight." He grabbed a heavier shirt, looking surprised when he noticed that it was clean. "Did you clean my clothes?" He looked at her, a strange expression on his face.

 

"Yeah, just a few things." She said, taking the shirt and slipping it on over her T-shirt. The sleeves hung past her fingertips but the heavier flannel felt warm against her arms. "I figured it would keep me busy."

 

He chuckled and blew out the lantern. "Lets head back to the others. You're a strange one, girl." He said, checking for sound before he unzipped the tent and headed back to the RV.

 

"I'm strange because I like clean clothes?" She said, raising her eyebrows at his back.

 

"Naw, strange because you cared enough to clean mine. Ain't nobody done my clothes since I was a kid." He said with a snort. "Go on in, I'm gonna help pile the bodies up." He said when they reached the RV door. He watched her go in and then joined Rick. "Pile 'em tonight and burn 'em in the morning?"

 

"Yeah...burn the walkers and bury our people." Rick said. "We're lucky we didn't lose more."

 

"We should burn 'em all...to be safe." He grumbled, it was a mistake to bury them...fire was the sure way to make sure they killed whatever the hell was infecting people. "Least the kids are ok." Daryl said as he grabbed a walker and dragged it off to the side, starting to pile them. It was smell, disgusting work but between them all they managed. They'd lost Ed, a couple that had joined them last week, and Martinez. All in all, it could have been worse.

 

Beth and the some of the other women came out as the sun broke the horizon and helped wrap the bodies of the people they were going to bury. She was tying the wrappings on a young woman when  she saw Jacqui drop the feet of the biter that she'd been helping Jim carry, and then cry out that he'd been bit. Her heart dropped and she stood, remembering all too well what happened to people who'd been bitten. One of the girls in the city had been bit, and watching her die had been horrific.

 

"Show us the bite!" Daryl said, face hard as he held his pick axe.

 

Beth got closer and saw as Jim raised his shirt, shaking...clearly scared to death. The bite was livid against his skin and she closed her eyes. "Oh god..." She whispered.

 

"I'm ok....I swear I'm ok..." Jim was shaking and crying.

 

Beth stepped forward. "Ok Jim...just come and sit down ok?" She saw the way Daryl and Shane were looking at him. "Come on now." She said and coaxed him to come and sit by the RV. She got him some water and then went over to the others. "I've seen it before...what happens. He doesn't have long before the fever sets in. All we can do is keep him comfortable until the end." She spoke quietly.

 

"Is he dangerous to us like this?" Lori asked, thinking about the kids.

 

Beth shook her head. "No...right now he's just a very sick man. No one can catch it. He's not dangerous until after the fever kills him. That's when we always...put them down." She looked down.

 

"How many times you seen it happen?" Daryl asked, still thinking it was best to just put him down now.

 

"Twice, before now." She raised her eyes to look at him. "There's nothing anyone can do for him now, except try and make him comfortable."

 

Lori nodded and looked to Carol. "Lets get him laying down in the RV, best to keep him quiet." She said and headed off with the other woman.

 

"We can't stay here...not after tonight." Shane said. "Best bet is to head for Fort Benni."

 

"Or we can try and get Jim to the CDC. Before everything went down, they were working on the cure...if there's anything left it'll be there." Rick argued. "He got bit trying to defend us all...if there's any chance at all, we have to try!"

 

Beth moved away from the two of them, listening to them argue the merits of either choice. She went to keep working on piling the biters on the pyre, there was a lot yet to do. She smiled a little as Daryl came over and helped her lift one of the bodies.

 

"You don' care where we go?" He asked as they kept working.

 

"Either choice is a long shot....military was overrun in the cities, I doubt the fort is any better and the CDC? Seems just as remote given how long the power's been down." She shook her head. "I'll go where you go, and I think we stand a better chance with the group than off alone." She straightened and wiped some sweat off her forehead.

 

Daryl nodded. "Alright." A big part of him wanted to keep looking for Merle...but he could be anywhere if he'd taken the truck and if he gave a shit about him, he knew where to find him. They managed to finish burning the walkers and as a group they headed over to the holes that Jim had dug yesterday, to start burying their dead.


End file.
